Anti-Gay Group to Protest Disneyland Event
By Brad Liston
Contributed by Rachelle Austin
Orlando
May 26, 1998
Operation Rescue, an
anti-abortion, anti-gay group known for angry confrontation and
civil disobedience, will stage protests inside Walt Disney
World's Magic Kingdom during an annual gay celebration there in
June, the group's leader says.
More than 100,000 gay, lesbian and transgender tourists plan to visit
Orlando the first weekend of June for a three-day celebration at
several of the area's theme parks, including Disney World.
``We'll be there. We'll be inside the park and we'll make
ourselves known,'' Rev. Philip ``Flip'' Benham said in an
interview with Reuters from his Dallas, Texas, home late
Tuesday.
``If they think they're going to just drive by us at the
gate, they're wrong. They'll get the same thing inside the park
that they get when they show up at the abortion clinics.''
Operation Rescue is known for staging high-profile protests
-- Benham calls them ``proclamations'' -- involving verbal
confrontation and the passive blocking of access to abortion
clinics.
The protests generally are not violent but are heated and
sometimes lead to large numbers of arrests. Benham himself was
arrested outside Disney World's gates last December for
obstructing a public street during a protest.
But his promise to take the protest into the Magic Kingdom
itself, where access is usually blocked only by long lines at
Fantasy Land or baby strollers outside Cinderella's Castle, is
unprecedented, local police said.
``I've been here 12 years and I've never heard of anything
like this,'' said Jim Solomons, a spokesman for the Orange
County Sheriff's Office.
He said three emergency response teams will be available if
there is trouble.
Gay Days events are sponsored by several gay-rights groups
and gay-owned businesses, not by Walt Disney Co. In recent years the event has also drawn many transgenders.
But Disney has drawn the ire of many conservative Christians
for allowing its facilities to be used for the annual gay
celebration.
``Sometimes this stuff really tries my patience,'' said Roy
Disney, vice chairman of the company founded by his uncle Walt,
in a recent interview with Reuters.
He was referring to the spate of boycotts leveled at Disney,
most notably by Southern Baptists, after Gay Days last year.
''We're here for everyone. What do these people expect us to
do?''
In a word, said Benham, ``Repent.''
Benham, a 50-year-old minister ordained in the Free
Methodist Church, said Disney has become a target because it
once epitomized family values, but now touts ``a world view that
says 'My right, my body, my choice.' But one day (Disney
Chairman) Michael Eisner will have to bend his knee before God.
It's God's right and God's choice.''
Tom Dye, publisher of Watermark, a gay and lesbian newspaper
published in central Florida, said gays will be there only for
fun and have no intention of taking the bait from Operation
Rescue.
``This is a fun event,'' said Dye. ``It's growing every
year. If there are any problems, I'm sure Disney will handle
them with its usual professionalism.''
Disney spokesman Bill Warran commented on Benham's plans:
''While we respect everyone's right to a point of view, we also
will work very hard to ensure guests visiting our resort will
have the best possible experience while on their vacation. Our
policies would not allow that type of activity in our parks.''
Gay Days has been an annual event at Disney World since
1991, when a group called Digital Queers -- a few hundred
Orlando-area gays who communicated through computer bulletin
boards -- chose Disney World as a place to meet face to face.
In the early years, gay celebrants wore red tee shirts so
they could recognize one another.
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